Magic Snow Globe
by Dark Seraphim
Summary: Roy, Ed, others, and a wizard in a globe of glitter snow. Some shounen-ai, others not. A series of short stories that will start at episode 8 and end at 51.


_Author's Notes: Originally, it was just "Glitter Snow", but then after seeing more of FMA, it ended up becoming a series of vignettes based on "The Magic Box 1 and 2" by Bel Canto. This first one would take place somewhere in the beginning of episode 8, and is a hurt/comfort between Roy/Ed._

Clink. Clink. Clatter. Rattle. A few sunrays broke through the last remaining clouds and illuminated a globe containing a wizard surrounded by glitter snow. Ed stopped, his eyes fixed on the magic snow globe behind the glass display. Roy Mustang took a couple more steps before finding himself beside the boy.

"Look how the wizard is iconized," Ed muttered. He sounded like a long lost nursery rhyme. "Though slightly slouched, he raised his arms and his head."

Clink.Clink.Clatter. Rattle. Roy didn't understand what Ed was trying to day. Was it a fairly tale told to children? Or was the rambling of one traumatized by things no child should ever see, even if they are State Alchemists? As he stared at their reflections against the glass, he remained silent as Ed continued to speak.

"Outside the cabinet, there stood a little girl--"

_Oh no..._Roy drew in his breath. He thought he told Ed that one can't just dwell over every lost cause. Perhaps Riza was right. Ed and his brother Al were only children. Still...

"Goggle eyed..." Ed faltered, but he breathed deeply and went on. "And quite astounded..." Ed's voice dropped. "Gazed at the wizard...gazed...at...the...crystal...ball...." He shut his eyes, blond hair covering his eyes. Roy took one step closer.

"Ed," Roy answered, sounding more gruff than he wanted. He remembered his own words, but they sounded hollow now. So much for being stern. He knew and even witnessed atrocities committed by many people, both military and non, but he never even imagined this. Not a little girl...not a dog. Not suffering in what had to have been excruciating pain. He sucked in his breath. _No tears. I should shed at a least a couple tears, but I can't let a single one show. _

"Did Nina stand in front of the wizard?" Ed asked like a stab in the heart.

Roy gasped. "Ed, no!" He sounded as sharp as possible, but it fell on deaf ears.

"Did she sit in front of the wizard? Was she goggle eyed at the glitter snow that surrounded the wizard as he danced to his own tune? Did she ask him what he saw? Did she ask him about her dreams?"

"Ed, stop it!" Without thinking, Roy grabbed Ed and held him close to his chest. "Stop it!"

"Did she stand in front of the wizard when she was fused with her dog! What did he see?" Ed cried. "Dear sage, what did you see? Did you see a little girl ask you where her dreams were? Or did you see a beast that begged for her friends?"

Roy helplessly pictured the Chimera watching the wizard, its eyes staring upward, desperately wanting to cry, but unable to.

"Stop it!" He commanded, but Ed wouldn't stop, not even when Roy squeezed him. _I should slap him, but I can't.  
_

"Did she beg the wizard to stop the pain?"

"Don't. Don't. Don't. Don't. Don't. Don't. Don't. Don't." Roy uttered the same word over and over again like a mantra. He held Ed even tighter, muttering over and over again, rocking him back and forth the way a parent comforts a distraught child.. He tried to sound strict, but for once, he failed. "Don't...don't..." This time, Ed didn't. He fell silent. Roy sighed. "Don't...Nina wouldn't want you grieve like this."

"Her dreams are dead. Dear Mister Sage will never find them." Ed whispered to nothing and no one as he shut his eyes.

"What? What are you talking about?" Roy demanded. "Stop this. You'll go insane if you don't."

Ed did stop for a moment, but only for a moment. He looked directly into Roy's eyes. "If there's a hell, I want him to be in it."

_Tucker. _Gritting his teeth, Roy grabbed the boy's shoulders. "There is no hell."

"If there's a Heaven, then I'm sure she's there with Alexander. They could rise and rise until they find their dreams...."

"There is no Heaven. You know that, Ed."

The boy's head slumped forward like a broken neck. "Can't I believe she's in Heaven? Just this once?"

Clink....Clink.... Clatter.... Rattle. Roy looked back at the wizard, who quietly danced to his own silent tune. He could tell that the music was dying, and that the glitter snow would soon fall to the bottom of the globe. _I should cry, but I just can't let it show....I've seen too much. Someday Ed will understand this. Someday. _ He held the boy in a tight embrace.

"Yes, if only for a short while."


End file.
